The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In modern motor vehicles, engine compartments are designed to minimize intrusion of engine components into the passenger compartment in the event of a crash to improve vehicle crashworthiness and passenger safety. A major aspect of such design is the consideration of which engine components may directly contact the dashboard panel (or ‘dash panel’, as it is commonly known in the art) cross member in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle.
In prior art vehicles incorporating manual or automatic transmissions it has been possible to prevent dash panel intrusion into the passenger compartment by placing energy absorbing elements between the transmission and the dash panel cross member. This has been possible because the shape of manual and automatic transmissions allows a space for such elements. Said space also translates to increased time during a crash event for energy to be dissipated from the transmission as it transits said space.
However, it has been found that this is difficult to achieve in vehicles incorporating a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The shape of a CVT differs from that of a manual or automatic transmission in that the CVT has a rearward projection (a so-called ‘hunchback’ region) which eliminates the space referred to above. Hybrid electric transmissions also exhibit a similar hunchback region. This and other issues are addressed by the present disclosure.